Condenser



P. A. BAN CEL July 25, 1933.

CONDENSER Filed Aug. 11, 1932 INVENTOR. PauA.Bwn0cd ZZZSA TTORNEY.

Patented July 25, l933 UNITED STATES:-

PATIENT} PAUL A. BANCEL, or moNroLAiRfivEw JERSEY, Assreivon "ro liwsn ommap COMPANY, or JERSEY CITY, NEWJ'ERSEY, ACQR-PORATION, or NEW me sy G ND NS I,

Applicationfiled Au ust- 11,1932. sci-mi imQszazse; it

This invention relates -to surface .condensers anclmore particularly to asurface condenser in the. construction of which means have been provided to render inoperative ,a portion of the cooling surface'thereofland to operate on the remaining portion or portions.

: The principal object of this construction is to permit operation of a steam power'unit' in spite of a leakage condition in the condenserv which would ordinarily requirethe shutting down of the unit or tolerate contamination of the condensate. An incidental object of e invention is to permit ready ac: cess to the cooling tubes for the purpose of repair or cleaning during the operationiof the major part of the 'condenser ww w; The construction of a condenser according to my invention is admittedlytmore:expem sive in first cost than in acon'densreaoficonrventional design, but in cases where cooling water' of veryfimpureicharacter such as is drawn from certainrivers must be used it may be cheaperfrom an operative standpoint esp to employ a condenser of the proposed type.

Salt water and acid bearing water has an extremely corrosive action upon copper or brass tubing, and it is not at all unusual for tubes to become so corroded that they leak cooling water into the condenser thereby polluting the condensate and rendering it unfit for use as feed water. When such a condition arises it becomes necessary to shut down the unit in which such leakage occurs as soon as is practicable in order to prevent serious damage to the boiler and other important units of the steam' power equipment. v

The drawing illustrates a longitudinal,

sectional view of a surface condenser to which my invention has been applied. Acondenser shell 10 is closed at one endby an inlet water box 11 and atthe other end by an outlet water box 12. Intermediate the ends of the condenser shell and the water boxes are placed tube sheets 28 to receive the ends of cooling tubes 24 which traverse the condenser. divided into sections 13 and 14 respectively by horizontal partitions 26. I

Water is introduced to each of the sections l 'b inlet w ater .maifi'is" ctntrolledsti' The water boxes 11 and.12 are valves 18 and the circulating water, after passing through theltubesyis removegl'ifrgm the {water box. sections 14: through jgvaater mains 16 controlled by. valvesiQMBetween each outlet water: box and iitsgvalve Side-com nected a pipe l 7 controlledebv aNaIYeFiQO which co1nmunicateswithan arm: of finlllfln'ir fold 2-1 which )runs to a discharge: pump 22; Condensate rnaryutlox removed from; zthe? 60hr denser .by 1 any asuitablez :means; (;I1Ot"SllQWIl;)' thrmighramopen-ing 23 iii) its;baseu h At the top of each inlet water box: section '13: .ania p'erture 2% %to which his lconnectetlvian individual steam: ejector 25: :of: conventional designe 1' l-lie ,operatioffof these ?gctors{may v be;co1i1trolled:-:by:valvesasuch as thewalvei 29' which 1' is shown connected itocthe- ;uppermost ejector 25. .lIC-ij I .5: ril my, u o; Insoperationexhaust steam from turbine {me other 1* #POWI'yfUIll'tz -I ienters itl-re condenser throughput ZeXhausti nomIefiSOn and i is! icon!- densed by contact with the cooling tubes 2 and the condensate is withdrawn through the v Opening 23. A- suitable vacuum'is main dfi tained in the condenser by air removal appa-I ratus (not shown). l p s Owing to the fact that the entire interiorof the condenser is maintained under a comparatively high vacuum during operation 81 andth'e water in the cooling tubes is under a relatively high head, a leak in one of the v tubes 24 isbound to result in a considerable volume of water at high velocity spraying into the condenser and contaminating thew condensate therein.

apparatus as soon as possible inorder to preat" a vent damage; In my preferred construction, however. it would notbenecessary to take the entirecondenser out of service," but only to shut. down that. section in which the vleak occurred thus permitting the continued oper- 8S ation of the power unit under a slightly, in-. creased back pressure. l

Assuming that the leak occurred in o'ne of the tubes connecting the uppermost water box sections and 14: it would be necessary to 63 to overcome the vacuum created by its removal. withdraw water from the circulating system of a condenser provisionhas been made by means of pump 22 and its piping and valve system, namely, the manifold 21, the valves and the communicating pipes 17 to remove water from any section'which may be shut down or-cut out, Byclosingthe uppermost valve 19, opening the'uppermost valve 20 and placing pump 22 in operation the water remaining in the leaky part of the system would speedily beremoved and the remaining portions of the condenser would then carry the full load. i In order to overcome any loss of vacuum which might be occasioned by air leakage through the section of the condenser which has been. shut down its respective ejector 25 may be put into operation to place the disconnected cooling section under a vacuum. r I Should a'leak occur in any of the other "tubes of the condenser, a similar procedure would be followed. With suitable handholes (not shown) in the water box sections 13 and 14 tubes may be cleaned or changed while the condenser is in. operation. 7

Frequently it is desirable, in order to obtain-the greatest efficiency in a condenser,

to maintain a highervelocity of flow of cool- As it is unusual to have a pump to ing water in the upper tubes of a condenser, and it will be obvious that a construction of the type described lends itself readily to such regulationsimply by means of the throttling effect obtainable by suitable operation of the v'a1ves'18.

Iclaim:

1. A surface condenser comprising an inlet for steam, a tube nest divided intoa plurality of groups of tubes, water boxes communicating with each group of tubes, means selectively to supply circulating cooling water to each group of tubes, and pump means for withdrawing water from any group of tubes.

2. A surface condenser comprising an inlet for steam,"a'tube nest divided'into a plurality of groups of tubes, water boxes communicating with'each groupof tubes, piping to clrculate cooling water through each group :of

tubes, valves in said 'piping 'to regulate the flow of water vthrough any group of tubes,

and pump means associated with said piping to withdraw cooling water from any group oftubes. 1 i 3. A surface condenser comprising an in PAULA. BANGEL,

'10 let for steam, a tube nest divided into a'plu- I 

